Press ReleasesNippon Paper Group Formulates Green Action Plan 2015

Nippon Paper Group, Inc.

Nippon Paper Group, Inc. (President: Yoshio Haga) has recently formulated Green Action Plan 2015.

To contribute to the development of a sustainable and recycling-oriented society, the Group has set forth the direction of its environmental activities as the philosophy and basic policy of its Environmental Charter. In doing so, the Group has formulated an environmental action plan.
Green Action Plan 2015, which has recently been formulated, is designed to meet the demands of society through environmental activities with group-wide commitments to concrete goals for fiscal 2015, as Green Action Plan 2010 comes to a close. The formulation of the new Green Action Plan is, to the greatest extent possible, based on consideration of factors such as governmental policies on the environment, changes of demand in society and changes of the Group's business environment resulting from domestic/international economic trends. For environmental management, an increasingly important element of overall corporate management in recent years, "product lifecycle," "supply chain," and "traceability" are included as new analysis indexes.

In running the group environment, the Group will consistently implement the plan and adapt to the enhancement of the environmental awareness of numerous different stakeholders.

Key points of Green Action Plan 2015 (changes and new items)

1. Anti-global warming action

  • "Total quantity" replaces "basic unit" as an index. This involves the continued reduction of emissions of fossil energy-derived CO2 and the reduction of the use of fossil energy.
  • Reduction of logistics-generated CO2 emissions is added as a new goal.

2. Protection and development of forest resources

  • All imported hardwood chips are required to have been certified.
  • The enhancement of traceability and the facilitation of the procurement of sustainable forest resources are stated additionally.

3. Recycling of resources

  • "Recycling rate" replaces "reduction of final waste volume" as an index of waste-related commitments. Efforts to facilitate the recycling of resources will be continued.
  • Reduction of water use in the manufacturing process is added as a new goal.

4. Observance of environment-related laws and reduction of environmental load

  • Aside from the observance of laws, precautionary approaches are also considered in strengthening environmental management.
  • In procuring raw materials and equipment, the Group attaches importance to supply chains and endeavors to reduce the environmental load.

5. Development of eco-friendly technologies and products

  • From the viewpoint of lifecycle assessment (LCA), the growing requirements for eco-friendly and resource-saving products and services will be met.

6. Environmental communication

  • To date, the Group has focused on information disclosure. This will expand into the pursuit of communication where dialogue is extremely important.

7. Biodiversity commitments (New)